Different people approach their jobs differently. Some people want the job. They’re not interested in the environment, or the pay, or the working hours, or the boss. They are just in love with the job.
“I wanna be a musician! I’m not interested in where I do my music. I don’t care how much I make. I don’t mind the artsy-fartsy, eccentric people around me. I don’t care if my works of art are recognized only after I’m dead. I just want to make music!”
That’s Type A.
Some other people don't really like the job. They are more interested in what comes along with the job. Like, if the money is good, then they won’t mind the job.
“I wanna make money! I'm not interested about what that job is. I don't care who I have to meet everyday. I don’t mind where or how long I have to work. I just want lots of money!”
That’s Type B.
When it comes to religion, we see Type A and Type B too. We like to sell Type B Christianity. We try to see how all the other things in the Christian lifestyle can be alluring to us. Christ is the added bonus.
We find it easier to ask our friends to “try” Christianity. To “taste” how is it like to be a Christian. We encourage them to do all the Christian things first. We show them all the things in the “package” that appeals to them. And if they kinda fancy it, maybe they wouldn’t mind to be a Christian.
So we appeal to their taste in music. Some people like to play the guitar. We appeal to their hobby in literature. Some people like to read thick, old books. We appeal to their sense of gregariousness. Some people just like being around people.
If the music, the literature, and the people they are in contact with most of the time are Christian, maybe they may just stumble into Christianity. “Why not, since I’ve kinda adopted the lifestyle already?”
It’s not barking up the wrong tree. It’s more like barking up the tree the wrong way. We’re doing it the other way around. We ask people to choose Christianity before we challenge them to choose God. We give people a lifestyle to follow before we give them a Person to follow. We push them into a mould that we call “the right mould.”
That’s why we often hear people saying “Why do you say Christianity is the only way?” No, “Christianity” is not the only way. Christ is the only way. We hear the wrong question being asked because we have sold the wrong gospel. We sold the religion, not the Person.
Yes, we always need some kind of medium to connect people with the gospel. All kinds of ways are permissible. As Paul said, “Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.” (Philippians 1:18) I also believe that showing love, genuine concern and warm fellowship are one of the best ways to preach the gospel.
However, we cannot be naïve to not realize that in the mind of an unchurched Mary or Harry, pushing a particular lifestyle can come across as distasteful. If the Person is preached instead of the lifestyle, acceptance or rejection will be based on the root Himself. The response won’t be directed at cultural hegemony.
Even we, believers, are not spared. When we think back on why we are called Christians, we may be afraid of our honest answer. Maybe it was not about Jesus Christ after all. It was about all the other things attached to Christianity. It was the lifestyle. Jesus Christ was an added “I-don’t-mind” bonus. Type B.
If we are Type A Christians, we won’t fall even if everything else we love about the lifestyle of Christianity falls apart.
Let us not convert people to Christianity. Let’s bring them to Christ.
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3 comments:
I concur. You might want to listen to what Ray Comfort has to say on this issue. Go to www.wayofthemaster.com and download the sermon titled 'Hell's Best Kept Secret'.
This world wants candy, so many just give them exactly what they want. They love games, so we give them sports, they love music so we build a whole church to meet their desires... and then somewhere down the line, we try to slip in a false easy gospel when they're comfortable and settled.
Many churches today have sold themselves out to the world. It's amazing how churches market themselves so well today, that people just flock to the church because everyone wants to be part of it. If we sell the lifestyle of tainted American Christianity, this is what you're gonna get, an exploding MTV church, one that gives entertainment, ignites excitement and exuberates false energy. Nobody bothers to even examine if they are offering profane fire in their churches but judge their approval from God based on their membership count and their hefty current accounts. Sad but true.. many have sold out!!
Yes.. we must preach Christ and the Gospel alone. We must give the people what they need.. the saving truth of repentance of sin and salvation through the finish work of His Son. The fanfare and circus acts of emotionalism is not going to save a dying generation of movie and concert-goers. All it's gonna do is keep them happily 'filled' and entertain them.
Let's preach the true Gospel of Christ!!
Never thought of it that way, 'let us not convert people to Christianity; let's bring them to Christ'. It's so simple, it's profound.
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